


George the Squib

by ContinuityofDucks



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:33:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23158594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ContinuityofDucks/pseuds/ContinuityofDucks
Summary: It's pretty much in the name. What if the reason the twins, who are very obviously talented at what they do, got poor OWL results because only half of them could actually do magic.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	George the Squib

From a young age, George Weasley knew he was different. When his brother’s got angry or lost their concentration: objects would fly around the room or explode or disappear but no matter how hard he tried George could never manage even the smallest magical occurrence. Fortunately, nobody seemed to notice. He was confused so often with Fred that any such accident by his brother was blamed on the twins as a pair rather than one individually, but he lived in absolute fear of anyone figuring it out. He always just hoped his magic would come eventually and that everything would be fine but the closer he got to his eleventh birthday the less likely that felt.

Every time one of his brothers got their acceptance letter to Hogwarts he watched the proud, beaming smile on his mother’s face and tried to imagine how she would look when it was his turn and the owl never arrived. Every time his parents told him and Fred that they wouldn’t get away with their mischief when they got to Hogwarts his heartbeat quickened as he imagined surviving whatever muggle school he was sent to without his twin.

“Fred-” whispered George one night when they were ten and he was once more lying awake imagining the worse.

“Yeah?” replied Fred from the next bed.

“Have you noticed how I-”

“Yeah.” said Fred, not even letting George finish speaking as though saying the words out loud made them too real. 

There was silence for a while after that as neither twin knew what to say. They had spent most of their childhood pulling pranks and causing problems and trying to out do each other. Until tonight neither had ever wanted to bring up the real issue. It was a problem neither of them could find a solution too despite years of thinking. The only real solution was George miraculously gaining his powers but there was nothing they could do to make that happen.

“I want to go to Hogwarts, Fred.”

“I want you there, George.”

There was another long sad silence.

“I guess dad’ll be happy at least.” said George thoughtfully after a long while. “He loves muggles. I can finally find out the answers to all his questions.”

Fred smiled weakly. “You’ll be his favourite for sure.”

“Or maybe they will take me. I mean they accepted Percy so their standards can’t be that high.”

From that night onwards Fred doubled his magical ‘accidents’ and laid the blame firmly on George’s door. Hopefully however Hogwarts detected new students would be just as fooled as their parents. Neither twin raised the subject again and they focused their energy on messing with Ron and repeatedly setting gnomes lose in the kitchen. 

When their eleventh birthday finally dawned neither of them could feign excitement as they were greeted down stairs with a rousing “Happy Birthday!” from their parents, Ron and Ginny. They opened their presents with minimal enthusiasm and both visibly paled and exchanged dismal looks when their mum mentioned how the owl from Hogwarts was “due any minute now!” 

When the owl finally arrived and Molly handed George a letter, he couldn’t quite believed it. A part of him thought maybe it was a sympathetic rejection with some muggle school options, or even a cruel April Fool’s joke. When he saw his letter was identical to Fred’s is eyes lit up and one glance over at his twin told him they were both thinking the same thing.

“I don’t know why you boys are so surprised.” said Arthur bemusedly as Molly went to get their cake. “Your names have been down on the list for Hogwarts since you were born.”

“So they don’t bother to check out who is on the list before sending the letters?” said George, trying to be as vague as possible.

“You didn’t believe us when we told you all your messing around would stop you from getting into Hogwarts, did you?” said Arthur with a chuckle. “You certainly never acted as though you did.” George’s mouth opened and closed several times. He looked down at his letter, still not quite believing it. This was his chance. They just needed a plan.

Later on, when the twins were finally alone, they shared an identical grin and got straight down to the matter at hand: how to keep George at Hogwarts without him ever having to perform a spell. An hour later, however, they had begun to realise it wasn’t as simple as just getting the letter. They had to figure out wands, sorting and classes and they didn’t know enough about any of it. If only they’d have paid more attention in all the classes the mum had given them about Hogwarts.

“We’re going to need outside help.” said George in defeat, looking down at their latest excuse for a plan. “Obviously not mum or dad.”

“Or Percy.” said Fred.

“Bill is leaving Hogwarts this year so he won’t be around if there is a problem. It’ll have to be Charlie.” concluded George. 

That evening as the twins ate their special birthday dinner their minds were still focused on their plans for Hogwarts. Charlie would only be home for six weeks over the summer and they had no idea if that was enough time to plan everything perfectly. George felt strongly that he would rather abandon the plan before he reached Hogwarts rather than be found out in front of the whole school.

“Bill passed his apparating test.” said Arthur conversationally reading a letter from their eldest son. “He sends his Birthday wishes by the way boys.”

“Well hopefully that means he can come home more.” said Molly happily. “Maybe he can visit for a day over Easter, though I am sure he will be far too busy preparing for his N.E.W.Ts.”

“Could he bring Charlie too?” asked Fred eagerly. 

“Technically I am sure he could. He has been able to apparate for over a year he just kept missing the test, but I am not sure Charlie would want to. Side along apparition isn’t pleasant.” said Arthur.

“It would be lovely to see them though.” said Molly wistfully.

“I want to show Bill that trick I taught the gnomes!” added Ginny.

“Yeah, and Charlie thinks the Chudley Cannons are going to win their next match!” 

“Well maybe I’ll write to Bill and invite him for a couple of days if he can apparate from Hogsmede but don’t get your hopes up,” said Arthur

“Obviously he can’t bring Percy and Charlie though.” said Molly sadly, though none of the kids minded that particular fact. “Three person apparition is not for the newly qualified. Perhaps Percy could come home for the whole holiday on the Hogwarts Express. He is only in his second year so he shouldn’t have too much studying to do.”

“Oh but you know Percy-” said George, utterly disagreeing that their nosy, goody-goody brother should be at home for a whole two weeks when he and Fred needed to work on their plans. 

“Yeah, he loves his homework. He probably has all sorts of studious plans for Easter.” agreed Fred. 

“Well never the less-” said Molly, narrowing her eyes at the twins. “Make sure he feels invited too, Arthur.”

It took a few days to hear back from their brothers at Hogwarts. Bill and Charlie were both very busy with school work, and Charlie had quidditch practice on top of that, but they agreed to come home for the middle weekend of the holiday just to see everybody and maybe have a slice of cake in celebration of Fred and George’s birthday. Percy thanked his parents for the invitation but declined saying he had far too much on to even consider leaving Hogwarts.

When Charlie finally arrived home, Fred and George wasted no time getting him alone. They lured him into a trap they had spent the last two weeks building (which involved a trip wire, a carefully placed chair, a bucket of water and a large quantity of rope) and in no time at all he was securely bound in their room and soaking wet. That second part wasn’t technically necessary but the twins had had a lot of time to work on the trap and had added a few details just for fun.

“What’s going on?” asked Charlie suspiciously. “Untie me or prepare for my vengeance.” that was one thing Fred and George both really liked about Charlie. He would never get their mother involved. Any prank the twins had pulled on him, he had always paid them back double.

“Look, we need your help but we had to tie you up to make sure you didn’t leave without hearing it all.” explained George. 

“And the water?”

“The water you can pay us back for later.” acknowledged Fred. “But hear us out first.” Fred turned to George expectantly. It was his twin’s secret after all so it was his right to share it.

“I am a squib.” said George after a long pause. He said it very quietly but even so it was a horrible sentence. Charlie frowned, convinced he must have misheard.

“No your not.” said Charlie eventually. “Do you even know what a squib is?”

“Of course. A wizard without powers, like mum’s second cousin.”

“Right. But you do have powers. I’ve seen you use them.”

“That was me.” said Fred. Charlie’s frown creased even further as he tried to process this. It was positively unthinkable that anyone of his siblings could be a squib but some how it being one of the twins surprised him more. They had always been so active and vibrant.

“Do mum and dad know?”

“Of course not. Only the three of us know and that is how it’s going to stay.”

“But surely everyone will realise when you don’t go to Hogwa-” His sentence was cut off by George dropping his acceptance letter on Charlie’s lap. He looked down at it and then up at the twins, his mind gradually figuring out their plan. “You want to go anyway, don’t you.” George nodded. “Are you sure? It means you will have to lie to everyone you love about who you are.” George shrugged and nodded again.

“I’ve been doing that all my life. Might as well get something out of it.”

“But we need your help.” added Fred. 

“Yes-” said Charlie, he was clearly in deep thought about the whole situation but smile was spreading across his face as he imagined all the possibilities. “Alright, I’ m in. Give me twenty four hours to figure stuff out and we’ll meet back here tomorrow.”

“You can’t tell Bill.” said George quickly. “I don’t want everyone knowing.”

“Relax.” said Charlie. “This will be our little secret.”

The next day the three brothers gathered around Fred’s bed and the twins were eagerly listening to their older brother who had clearly been up for most of the night.

“Ok boys, listen up. This mission is going to be tricky, it is going to be audacious and it is going to be epic. All you have to do is follow my plan to the letter.

“Stage one: The wand. Now, a couple of years ago I remember dad talking about a particularly interesting case where a wizard was peddling enchanted sticks to muggles as ‘magic wands’. They basically just spat some sparks, made things float and lit up at the end but in a pinch it would make George appear to have magic. Dad will have handed most of them in but he normally keeps a few things for himself in that shed of his so you will need to break in and find one. Once you have it you need to go into the attic and find all the old family wands and switch them out. Then all you have to do is pick that one when the parents ask and you have yourself some power.”

“Brilliant!” said Fred, hitting Charlie in the arm in congratulations. 

“Yeah, when I get back to Hogwarts I am going to do some research and see if we can make it do anything cooler. Bill would actually be better at-”

“You can’t tell him!” said George quickly.

“I’m not going to. I am just saying he would be. He wouldn’t mind you know-”

“No.” said George and Fred together. Charlie held his hands up in defeat.

“I’ll figure it out myself.” he sighed, shuffling the papers to reveal stage two.

Overall, there were eight stages to the plan which covered the rest of April through to the beginning of the school year. It required a lot of planning pranks and distractions, consistently switching places so not even their family could be sure which of them was which, and practising Quidditch so by second year they might make the team. The more George could demonstrate skills in other magical areas, the less focus people would pay him in subjects that required actual powers. Brooms were already enchanted so would theoretically fly for anyone. George had always avoided them before, claiming a fear of heights, as he hadn’t believed they would work for him. It took a lot of persuasion to get the broom to listen to George, but eventually he got it to hover. By the end of the summer he was flying as well as Fred, and Charlie had them practising flying with clubs.

Just as Charlie had predicted, Mr Weasley hadn’t turned over all of the muggle wands to the ministry and they had found one at the back of his old shed. It wasn’t amazing. The sparks it produced smelled like a bonfire. The light at the end was incredibly weak and it struggled to lift objects more than a couple of centimetres but it was more than George could get a regular wand to do. George picked the wand pretending to be Fred and then Fred (pretending to be George) picked his own wand and set fire to an old chair to distract their parents from looking too closely.

It wasn’t until 11:01 on September 1st that George really started having doubts. When the train pulled away from the station there was no turning back. It all suddenly became very real and very scary. George could feel his heart rate increase with the speed of the train and he then couldn’t breath. 

“George, you ok?” asked Charlie. George shook his head frantically, and Charlie quickly switched seats to sit besides his brother. “George, you’re having a panic attack. I need you to try and breath, ok? Can you take a few deep breaths for me?”

“I can’t do this-” said George shallowly, staring out of the window as the English countryside raced by. “This was a stupid idea. They are going to find out… everyone will know.”

“George breath.” said Charlie again. “This isn’t a stupid idea. This is a great idea.”

“Bloody genius! And it’s going to work!” added Fred eagerly. It was too late to pull back now without everyone finding out anyway. Now they had to commit.

“No… no… I can’t do this! I’m not a wiz-” Fred covered his mouth before he could finish his sentence. There wasn’t anyone else in their compartment to hear it but Fred hated hearing it and it certainly wouldn’t help George’s confidence.

“George you are a wizard in every way but power.” said Fred and Charlie hit him.

“George: you are a wizard full stop.” he said. “That is what you need to believe. My plan is genius and it will work. This train ride is step nine of what is now a sixty point plan that gets you almost to your OWLs. Your main advantage is the fact that no one will even think you might be a squib, so just don’t give them a reason to question it. Now breath.”

George gripped the front of his seat and took a few breaths, each deeper than the last. It still seemed like a bad idea, if he quit now then everyone would find out anyway. Besides, he trusted Charlie.

“Today is going to be the hardest day. But once you get passed the sorting hat you’re in.”

The sorting hat. This was by far the riskiest step, and quite possibly it would stop the plan in its tracks entirely. The hat had the ability to see inside the head of the wearer so they were fairly confident it would tell George was a squib. This meant George had to persuade it to give him a shot to prove his place (and also to put him in Gryffindor and not Slytherin for his cunning and ambition). The sorting happened in front of the entire school and George had had nightmares of what might happen. He had even asked Charlie to steal it at the end of the previous year but Charlie was sure the Sorting Hat would give him a chance. They had read the School Rule books and history books and there was nothing that explicitly excluded squibs from entry. Squibs were scarcely mentioned at all in wizarding society. Families normally hid them from the world so adding a rule to exclude them had never been necessary.

“Anything from the trolly?”

The arrivial of the trolly lady made all three boys jump. George quickly turned away so she couldn’t see his pale face and Fred and Charlie tried to look as innocent as possible as they held up the sandwiches their mum had made for them. The lunch lady nodded and kept moving, but then Charlie jumped up and followed her. A moment later he was back with a chocolate frog which he tossed at George.

“Here, this should make you feel better. I am going to catch up with a couple of friends before the coming looking for me, but I’ll be back before we arrive. Change into your robes and stay calm. You’ve got this.” he winked at George and then left, closing the door behind him.

The chocolate frog actually made George feel slightly sick so he gave it to Fred, but the card was Agrippa which he hadn’t got in his collection yet and he took that as a good sign.

“I’m glad you’re here, Georgie.” said Fred, through a mouthful of Chocolate. “School would suck without you.”

George smiled but didn’t immediately reply, instead he returned his attention to the window. He was glad he was there too. Of course he was. It had always been his dream to go to Hogwarts and that desire had only increased when he thought he couldn’t. To actually be on the Hogwarts Express was better than he could ever imagine. He was actually going to see the castle; ride in the boats across the lake; and see the enchanted ceiling in the Great Hall. Even if everything did go wrong and the Sorting Hat exposed him then at least he knew he had tried.

“Let’s play exploding snap.” he declared, pulling a deck of battered cards from his trunk and dealing out into the empty seat beside him. Fred grinned and moved into the seat nearest the door, picking up his hand of cards.

“You’re on. We play for the Agrippa card. I know Ron wants him and I can use that.”

“Deal. But if you win then I’m challenging you for it with gobstones.”

The twins played every game they could think of for the rest of the journey. Charlie checked in on them occasionally, but now he was back in the Hogwarts crowd there were a lot of people looking for his attention. People wanted to try out for the Quidditch team or congratulate him for last year’s playing. He also had friends to greet and Percy wanted his advice on how best to devote his next two years to ensure he was made prefect and headboy. 

As the train travelled further and further north, both twins could feel the adrenalin building. George’s nerves were lost and now he just wanted the journey to end so they could put their plan into action. As they changed into their uniform, neither of them could stop grinning. Win or loose; this was the greatest trick they had ever attempted. 

“This is it.” said Fred, as the train pulled into the station. He half expected to turn around and see his brother having another panic attack, but now the time had come; his twin was nothing but confidence.

George straightened his Hogwarts tie and wiggled his eyebrows. “Freddy: Hogwarts isn’t going to know what hit them.”


End file.
